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Buyers snatched up houses as investment properties and second homes at an especially fast clip last year. The number of homes purchased for investment purposes rose a whopping 65% in 2011, from 749,000 to 1.23 million properties—which was more than one-fourth of all homes sold last year.
For the most part, the real estate market isn't pretty, and hasn't been in quite some time. Housing prices have fallen to 2003 levels, and recent signs indicate it's unlikely that a full recovery will arrive before 2015.
If there's one bright spot in the market, it's the sharp rise in investors realizing that, what with prices so low, it's a terrific time to buy. The most recent report from the National Association of Realtors indicates that vacation home sales rose by 7% last year, while investment-home sales soared by 65%.
(MORE: An Early Spring for Housing Too?)
An unusually high percentage of both groups (49% of investment buyers, 42% of those purchasing vacation homes) paid cash for their homes, indicating that the buyers tended to be fairly well off and sellers often wanted to unload their properties in quick-and-painless fashion, with no mortgages or banks involved:
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said investors with cash took advantage of market conditions in 2011. "During the past year investors have been swooping into the market to take advantage of bargain home prices," he said. "Rising rental income easily beat cash sitting in banks as an added inducement. In addition, 41 percent of investment buyers purchased more than one property."
While investment home sales grew from 17% of the market in 2010 to 27% last year, 2011 was a slow year for traditional sales in which the purchaser planned on using the home as a primary residence. At 2.78 million sales, such transactions still represented the majority of home purchases—61%—but in 2010, 73% of home purchases were of the owner-occupied variety.
(MORE: Learning to Love the Housing Bailout)
One reason that investors are jumping on homes is that rents have soared in the U.S. A recent study showed that buying is cheaper than renting in 98 out of 100 top markets. So why aren't more people buying? Well, another study showed that the incomes of most renters has fallen, even as rents have climbed.
It's only those who are positioned well financially—folks with good credit who qualify for mortgages, or who can just pay cash—who have been able to snag homes at phenomenally cheap prices of late. Most renters don't fall into either of those categories, and so they're still stuck renting.
The Wall Street Journal noted that while the uptick in investor home purchases "could help to stabilize prices, they also are creating problems for some buyers":
Real-estate agents say investors, and to a smaller extent vacation-home buyers, are outmaneuvering traditional buyers, who are less likely to have the financial means to pay cash for a home and may not devote as much time to searching for properties.
(MORE: Housing Math: Buying Is Now Cheaper Than Renting 98% of the Time)
While it's been a good time to buy a home as an investment or a vacation property, it also seems to be an opportune moment to buy a home that is both—a vacation property that can be rented out, at least occasionally.
In a recent TripAdvisor survey, 46% of Americans said they are planning to stay in a vacation rental property this year, up from 40% in 2011. Sites that facilitate direct-from-owner rentals such as Home Exchange and AirBnB have experienced unparalleled growth in recent years: The latter, for instance, recently booked its five millionth night, up from just 1 million a year ago.
Brad Tuttle is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @bradrtuttle. You can also continue the discussion on TIME's Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.


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No harsh chemicals that could irritate sensitive skin. Seedlings Diaper Rash Cream is made with 100 percent naturally derived ingredients, including 100 percent pure essential oils. This thick, Lavender-scented cream reduces the duration and severity of diaper rash when applied at the first sign of redness. It soothes on contact, protects your baby's delicate skin, and acts as a physical barrier to wetness.
Seedlings Diaper Rash Cream can be used as a preventive measure before bed or anytime when exposure to wet diapers may be prolonged. The extra gentle, mild formula—developed specially for your infant's tender skin—seals out wetness and helps balance skin moisture while reducing redness.

subset: commoncrawl


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As of the end of 2009, according to the China Renewable Energy Industries Association, more than 10,000 utility-scale wind turbines had been installed nationwide. And in 2010, according to figures released last month by the China Industry Energy Conservation and Clean Production Association, China spent approximately $US 45.55 billion on 378 big wind power projects, including roughly 8,000 new wind turbines that were installed last year. Wind generating capacity in China has reached more than 42 GW — the most of any country, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.
The industry is growing so fast, in fact, that China's two national transmission companies are not keeping pace. About a quarter of the generating capacity is not connected to the grid.
That's not the case in northern Gansu, where brand new, high-voltage power lines and towers — gleaming silver in the bright sun — march along the mountain ridges and across the desert.
The sector grew steadily — albeit slowly — for nearly a decade, said executives here in Jiuquan. But, in the earliest years of the new century, wind power began to spin with economic authority.
Last year, China said it was spending $US 590 billion over the next decade to expand and modernize its electrical transmission system, including $US 75 billion in the first five years for high-voltage power lines — like those being constructed through Gansu.
Even in Gansu's bitter cold winter, powerline workers trudge through the big wind farms, connecting turbines to the substations and 750-kilovolt transmission lines that carry power to the rest of the country.


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TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Toshiba Corp. and General Electric Co. of the United States have agreed to set up a joint venture by the end of the year for the development and sales of a high-efficiency thermal power system, the Japanese electronics giant said Thursday.
The two firms have cooperated in sales of the combined-cycle power generation system in Japan and other Asia countries for over 30 years, and they will expand their business across the world through the new firm, possibly to be equally owned, given growing demand for thermal electricity generation.
Toshiba said it has yet to decide where the new firm will be set up.
The agreement apparently aims to counter the deal by two Japanese rivals -- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Hitachi Ltd. -- on integrating their thermal power businesses.
Toshiba and GE plan to hold equal stakes in the joint venture.


text:
Описание курса
1. Electric current and its impact on the human body
2. Key terms and definitions
3. Delimitation of protective zones of electric network facilities. Specific terms of use of land lots situated within protective zones
1. Types of briefings and electrical safety training procedure
2. Assessment of staff's knowledge of operating and maintenance rules (OMR)
3. Organization of works of detached staff
1. Key terms
2. Technical measures ensuring safety of de-energized works
3. Protective safety precautions
4. Earthing application and removal procedure
1. Industrial premises environment
2. Classification of premises by electrical shock hazard rate
1. Operating rules when works are in progress using portable and mobile electrical installations
2. Organizational measures ensuring safety of specific works
3. Safety requirements for specific works
4. Admittance of personnel of construction & mounting organizations to works in active electrical installations and within the protected zone of electricity transmission lines
1. Intended purpose, operating principle, general rules of use of protective devices used in electrical installations
2. Basic and auxiliary electrical safety devices
3. Enhanced electric fields protective equipment
4. Personal protective equipment, purpose and operating rules
1. First aid to persons exposed to electric shock
2. Procedure for investigation of accidents in electric installations
The test consists of 20 questions and you have 20 minutes to give your answers. Each question has only one correct answer. In order to pass the test successfully and finish the training course you should give 16 correct answers at least


text:
MacroGenics, Inc. Could Earn More Than $1 Billion Through New Servier Alliance
"We are very pleased to be expanding our existing relationship with MacroGenics. Servier partnered with MacroGenics in late 2011 on MGA271, a monoclonal antibody that recognizes B7-H3, a novel member of the B7 family of immune regulators. We believe bi-specific antibodies are an important new frontier in medicine. MacroGenics is well positioned to be a leader in this exciting area, given the robustness and versatility of their DART platform. Furthermore, they have a proven track record in successfully integrating their powerful antibody discovery and bi-specific platforms," said Stephane Depil, M.D., Ph.D., in charge of Oncology Research & Development at Servier. "Today's announcement further underscores Servier's commitment to develop novel targeted therapies that address significant unmet medical needs for cancer patients," added Emmanuel Canet, M.D., Ph.D., President Research & Development at Servier. "We continue to look forward to building a long-term strategic collaboration with MacroGenics, a pioneer in developing next-generation antibody therapeutics."
Under the terms of the agreement, MacroGenics will receive a $20 million upfront payment. MacroGenics retains full development and commercialization rights to the three pre-clinical DART programs in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea and India, while Servier has the option to obtain an exclusive license covering the rest of the world for each of the programs. Prior to the exercise of Servier's option, both parties will fund and conduct specified research and development activities. Servier may exercise its option for one of the programs prior to IND submission, and for each of the other two programs upon completion of an initial Phase 1 clinical trial. If Servier exercises such options, MacroGenics will receive option exercise fees, which, when combined with preclinical milestones, would total an additional $80 million. MacroGenics could also receive up to an additional $1 billion in clinical, regulatory and commercialization milestone payments for the three programs. Both parties will share the clinical development costs for each program following the exercise of such option. Finally, MacroGenics may receive tiered, double-digit royalties on future net sales.
"We are delighted to enter into our second collaboration with Servier and our third major pharmaceutical partnership around our DART platform," said Scott Koenig, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of MacroGenics. "Servier has been an extraordinary partner with significant global capabilities in developing and delivering novel cancer treatments to patients. They will enable us to significantly broaden and accelerate our pipeline of innovative DART-based product candidates."
About DARTs
MacroGenics' DART technology enables the generation of highly stable antibody-based therapeutics that can simultaneously target two different antigens. DART therapeutics can accommodate virtually any variable region sequence in a "plug-and-play" fashion, are highly potent, and have very favorable manufacturing properties. DARTs may be engineered with either short or extended serum half-life to support various applications in different disease areas. To date, the company has engineered over 100 different DART proteins developed for both internal pipeline programs and external collaborators. MacroGenics expects to initiate multiple IND-enabling studies with several DART programs in late 2012. MacroGenics continues to expand its significant patent estate around its DART technology.
About MacroGenics
MacroGenics is a private, venture-backed biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and delivery to patients of novel biologics for treatment of cancer, autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases. MacroGenics has built a fully-integrated set of capabilities in antibody-based product development which supports its innovative pipeline of clinical stage product candidates. MacroGenics' proprietary research is based on three core technology platforms, which include: (1) a leading research capability for screening and targeting cancer stem-like cells; (2) Dual-Affinity Re-Targeting (or DART) bi-specific technology, which allows the incorporation of multiple specificities within a single recombinant molecule; and (3) Fc optimization, which enhances antibody-dependent effector cell function. The company has multiple research and development collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies including Les Laboratoires Servier, Boehringer Ingelheim and Pfizer, Inc. For more information, visit www.macrogenics.com.
About Servier
Servier is the leading independent French pharmaceutical company with a 2011 turnover of 3.9 billion. The Servier Group is established in 140 countries with its main therapeutic products used to treat diabetes, cardiovascular disease, CNS disorders, oncology and rheumatology. More than 25% of Servier's revenue is invested in Research & Development. Servier has 20,000 employees worldwide, including nearly 3,000 in R&D. For further information, please visit www.servier.com.
Statements made in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expects," "believes," "intends," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statement. Specifically, there are a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, such as the Company's ability to raise additional capital, and risks related to the Company's ability to initiate, and enroll patients in, planned clinical trials. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or developments, except as required by law.
SOURCE MacroGenics, Inc.


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I have gotten many outside requests for the following information – what places (companies, Universities, government agencies, etc) provide contract services for rRNA PCR and sequencing?
I know that uBiome will do this (full disclosure – I am on their SAB).
The UC Davis Host-Microbe Systems Biology Core will do this (more disclosure – I am the Assistant Director).
Science Exchange has a list of some places that do this too: https://www.scienceexchange.com/services/16s-rrna-seq. But there are only six places listed there. There must be many many more.
Here are some other places I found in a quick Google search that seem to do such service:
- GATC biotech
- VM Core Services – Sequencing – 16S rRNA
- 16S rRNA Sequencing – Retrogen Inc. (seems to only do full length Sanger based sequencing)
- MR DNA Next Gen Sequencing Service
- Our Services and Rates – Microbiome Core Facility – UNC School …
I am sure there are many others out there. It seems that it would be good to compile a list of places that do this and information about costs, quality, etc. So I am hoping to do that here with some crowdsourcing help.
Where have people gotten such sequencing done?
Did you like the results?
What did it cost?
Any / all information would be useful.
Cataloguing responses on Twitter:


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Attorney General Eric Holder at the Press Conference Regarding the Times Square Attempted Bombing
Washington, DC
United States
Good afternoon.
As many of you know, Faisal Shahzad was arrested late last night in connection with his alleged role in the attempted car bombing in Times Square last Saturday.
Shahzad, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, is in federal custody today. He has been and continues to be questioned by federal agents. As a result of those communications, Shahzad has provided useful information to authorities.
We anticipate charging him with an act of terrorism transcending national borders, attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, use of a destructive device during the commission of another crime, and explosives charges.
I want to emphasize that this investigation is ongoing, and we continue to pursue a number of leads as we gather useful intelligence relating to this terrorist attack.
Based on what we know so far, it is clear that this was a terrorist plot aimed at murdering Americans in one of the busiest places in this country. We believe this suspected terrorist fashioned a bomb from rudimentary ingredients, placed it in a rusty SUV and drove it into Times Square with the intent to kill as many innocent tourists and theater-goers as possible.
Make no mistake – although this car bomb failed to properly detonate – this plot was a serious attempt. If successful, it could have resulted in a lethal terrorist attack causing death and destruction in the heart of New York City.
It is a stark reminder of the reality we face today in this country. The reality that there is a constant threat from those who wish to do us harm simply because of our way of life.
There are organized terrorist networks that are targeting us. There are lone terrorists here at home and abroad who are targeting us. As months, even years go by without a successful terrorist attack, the most dangerous lesson we can draw is a false impression that this threat no longer exists.
It does, and the Department of Justice and our partners in the national security community have no higher priority than disrupting those attempts, and bringing those who plot them to justice. In this case, that is exactly what the dedicated agents and prosecutors from the Department and various law enforcement agencies have achieved through exemplary investigative efforts.
Over the last two days, men and women from the FBI, the Department's National Security Division, and U.S. Attorneys Offices worked with NYPD, DHS, and state and local partners to doggedly track the evidence in this case. The quick action from FBI agents was crucial to alerting Customs and Border Protection agents, who ultimately arrested him late last night at JFK airport as he was attempting to flee the country.
FBI agents have been able to glean additional evidence from searching Shahzad's car and home, and they continue to work with their state and local counterparts in New York, Connecticut and other jurisdictions to gather evidence and intelligence related to this case. We are also coordinating with other members of the President's national security team to ensure we use every resource available to bring everyone responsible to justice.
These agents and prosecutors are the backbone of our national security efforts – many of them doing their jobs outside the spotlight of the media. I want to commend them for their results in this case, and their unwavering commitment to their jobs. We owe them our gratitude and our respect.
Finally, I want to take this opportunity to remind all Americans how important it is to remain vigilant. The SUV in Times Square was first noticed by an alert bystander who reported it to authorities. By being aware of his surroundings and thinking quickly, he helped save lives and thwarted a potentially devastating attack. As always, anyone who notices suspicious activity should report it to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
Now I'd like to turn it over to Secretary Napolitano.
Updated March 14, 2016


text:
Green Eye & Eye Polyester Roundsling 5,300 lbs. vertical capacity x 16ft
Standard Eye & Eye Polyester Roundslings$54.36SRP:$157.57
All Stren-Flex® Slings are manufactured to meet or exceed current OSHA and A.N.S.I. standards. Trust your safety with the best. Proudly made in Simpsonville, South Carolina, USA!
Your item will drop-ship from the manufacturer. Due to unprecedented material and labor shortages nationwide shipping lead times may be longer than normal. In advance, thanks for your patience. Rest assured we will do everything possible to expedite the shipment of your order.
Eye & Eye Roundslings provide the same basic features of a polyester roundsling, and offer a double-wall cover under the body cover to protect load bearing yarns. They also save money by extending the life of the body of the sling. Roundslings, made of durable, high strength materials, are light-weight and flexible in construction. Roundslings, like web slings, are gentle to the load and provide some protection to fragile loads. A roundsling is seamless and tubular in construction with no stitched edges to become snagged or ruptured. In addition, roundslings are color coded according to capacities to allow easy identification while the soft pliable body of a round sling allows it to hug uneven and odd-shaped loads.
Polyester roundslings stretch nearly 3% at the rated capacity and will return to the original length after the load is released. The cover of a roundsling protects load bearing yarns from ultra-violet degradation as well as abrasion. Polyester web slings are used primarily in conditions where acid is present or a minimum stretch is desired. Polyester is unaffected by common acids and hot bleaching agents, but the material is unsuitable for use in conditions where concentrated sulfuric acid and alkaline is present. Polyester is also unsuitable in locations where temperatures exceed 194° F (90° C). A roundsling is the cost effective choice in high capacity lifting or pulling applications. Consult our technical information for additional information.
Additional information
Shipping Weight | 7.3 lbs |
Pack Quantity | 1 |
Assembly Required | No |
MSDS | No |
Skid | No |
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text:
So the scheduled Novation announcement just happend and it wasn't much of a suprise really. Big props to Novation though as it was our first tipple of the day with a glass of champagne handed out to celebrate this new launch... Anyway, free booze aside, the Remote MkII's look pretty impressive and build steadily on the Automapping brilliance of their previous units. Adding on to the keyless Zero controller are the universally assinable rotary and cross fader (as found on the Nocurtn), plus the faders have become longer through and much better designed. Hurrah! More info when we push our way to the front and convice Novation's bass-playing bear to let us take one back to the UK.
Novation Remote SL MkII
By Chris Barker
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A Conversation With Fred Ali, President/CEO, Weingart Foundation
March 18, 2016
Fred Ali is president and CEO of the Southern California-focused Weingart Foundation, where he is drawing on past experience as a nonprofit executive to recast the relationship between a foundation and its grantees and has become a champion of the movement to cover full costs and provide nonprofits with unrestricted flexible funding. In this latest installment in a series of conversations with foundation leaders, Ali and Nonprofit Finance Fund CEO Antony Bugg-Levine discuss money, power, influence, and outcomes.
Antony Bugg-Levine: The Weingart Foundation is known for providing unrestricted support — a rarity in the world of philanthropy. What led you down this path?
Fred Ali: My own experience as a nonprofit executive has always guided my thinking. When the financial crisis hit, I remember the board meeting where I was asked, "What do we do now?" I made the argument for unrestricted support, and it really made sense to the board. We brought in some of our grantees, as well, to help design our approach. Our board has always appreciated when they hear from the field.
A lot of people said that nonprofits would just take the unrestricted money and invest it in programs, because demand was growing exponentially and it is in nonprofits' DNA to put programmatic needs first. And in our first round of unrestricted grantmaking, that's exactly what we saw. Then we started to see a shift. Based on the questions our program officers were asking, what we started to see — and what we continue to see — is that nonprofits recognized that these were very special dollars. We started seeing organizations use these dollars to invest in their infrastructure, to bring back the financial management position that was lost or the development person they needed, and it was heartening.
ABL: How do you balance the philosophy behind giving grantees the autonomy to do what they know how to do best while at the same time meeting your own need — and your board's need — to know the impact of those dollars?
FA: When we made our decision to devote the bulk of our funding — now over 60 percent — to unrestricted funding, it immediately raised the question of impact measurement. After a few years of hard work, we recently announced a new assessment framework for our grantees that evaluates organizations on nine functional areas, including board governance, financial operations, fund development, staff and infrastructure, client and constituent engagement, diversity, cultural competence, organizational strategy and adaptability, and executive leadership. With the assistance of Paul Harder and Company, we co-created the framework with our grantees. We wanted a framework aligned with our core values as a responsive grantmaker. We wanted a process that maintained a commitment to transparency and practical, actionable learning. And we wanted something that would not create undue burdens on grantees or on our own staff but that would provide us with useful information. Our theory of change is that if you give a reasonably managed, well-governed, strategically focused nonprofit organization flexible, unrestricted dollars, good outcomes will follow.
ABL: The framework gives you a way to determine whether an organization is more effective over time, but how do you measure the contribution your grant made to that effectiveness? Many funders are concerned about attribution versus contribution if they were to move to more general support. How do you and your board approach that issue?
FA: The system we have designed understands the complex nature of assessing contribution to impact. We've developed a process to understand the growth in organizational effectiveness over time. And it starts with the questions we ask in the application process. Then, when a program officer makes a funding recommendation, they complete a detailed assessment based on their perception of where the grantee is against the nine functional areas of our framework. That provides a baseline. At the conclusion of the grant period, we ask the grantee to complete an online assessment, which gives them the opportunity to talk about where they are on those nine areas, and about big-picture organizational goals, and whether or not they are able to attribute the use of our unrestricted funds to any movement in those areas. The program officer receives that information, compares it with his or her initial perception, and then has a discussion with the grantee around the growth that has been achieved and areas of continued need. Last but not least, the program officer completes a closeout report that serves as the application for a new grant. Although it's still early in the process, things seem to be going well for both grantee and program staff.
FA: I think a lot of foundations are interested in buying outcomes and are not terribly interested in really supporting organizations. Funders may not explicitly say that, but the incessant focus on restricted programmatic funding has come at a huge cost to our sector. When we were considering a shift to unrestricted grants, we took a look back and found that many times the organizations we were supporting were not producing the outcomes we were looking for because they didn't have the ability to invest in the kind of infrastructure necessary to produce those outcomes. So when I hear foundations object to our approach, I have to ask, "What are you trying to accomplish? Does your grantmaking approach help or hinder the development of capacity and sustainability?" It's pretty clear we have a lot of nonprofit organizations that are doing incredible work that are being asked to do even more work and are not getting the kinds of support they need to do that work effectively.
ABL: In our State of the Sector survey, we ask about which aspects of financial health nonprofits feel comfortable discussing with funders. Not surprisingly, program expansion is at the top of the list, followed by things like the need for operating reserves and unrestricted income. There are two ways to read that: either organizations aren't discussing these things because they think their funders don't want to listen, or organizations simply don't know what they need. When you talk about building an effective organization, it sounds like what is important to you is that effectiveness doesn't solely come from a decision by a funder to provide unrestricted grants, it also requires the nonprofit itself to understand its financial position around things like liquidity and reserves. What's great about your approach is not so much that you want to give unrestricted support, it's that you have set out to build effective organizations. Being willing to fund full costs and provide flexible support is necessary but insufficient to engender effectiveness. Nonprofits must understand their financials, and a lot is gained by creating a trust-based relationship with grantees around issues of money.
FA: If you're doing it the right way, unrestricted funding allows you to look holistically at the organization rather than just a specific program. And that opens up the possibility of having candid conversations where grantees can talk about things like financial instability, liquidity, and other issues they are usually afraid to talk about because they may be perceived as weaknesses. Today, a number of years into this approach, we look at our grant applications and grantees and see that they are really candid about the issues our grantees have, the problems they face, and what they could do with unrestricted dollars. It's a much richer and more productive kind of relationship. The survey work that NFF does is incredibly helpful and in many ways reinforces the approach we have taken.
ABL: What else have you learned is necessary for foundations to be partners in building the effectiveness of the sector?
FA: As someone who ran nonprofits for years, I was always struck by the fact that, in many cases, foundation program officers fundamentally didn't understand our work. They may have had a fairly strong background in programmatic aspects of homelessness or mental health, for example, but they didn't truly understand how a nonprofit works. To effectively support nonprofits, you need to understand the field. You can't come to work for the Weingart Foundation unless you have work experience in the sector. That applies to everyone from our receptionist to the CFO. Now, nonprofit experience, in and of itself, isn't sufficient, but at least you know you're dealing with an individual who has some sensitivity to nonprofit issues. And if we hire that person, we provide them with continual training. With the help of partners like NFF, we make sure our program officers really understand nonprofit financial management.
ABL: Besides hiring people with nonprofit experience, which might not be a short-term solution for most foundations, it strikes me that bringing grantees into the board room is another way to close the foundation/grantee gap and make sure that people in the field are heard. In addition to correcting misperceptions, it also cultivates empathy. We spend a lot of time making sure the voice of nonprofits is heard in the rooms we find ourselves in with funders and, at the same time, helping nonprofit clients understand the constraints their funders are under. How much better we all could be if we cultivated a more generous spirit!
FA: Building empathy is a tried-and-true formula. When we bring people from the field into the board room , it always goes better.
ABL: We're seeing more support for the idea of covering full costs. With your leadership, with Darren Walker at the Ford Foundation voicing support, and with GuideStar's visible leadership on the Overhead Myth campaign, we are seeing new momentum around this issue, which is something some of us have been talking about for a long time. NFF's Claire Knowlton just wrote a piece for Nonprofit Quarterly that makes the case for full costs, and it has sparked a good deal of discussion. Are we having our full cost "moment" as a sector? Is it a sign of real change, or a flash in the pan?
FA: I think we are having a moment, and it's important. But a lot of the people engaged in these discussions may not be at the right levels in their organizations. At most of the conferences where I've presented on this topic, the audience has primarily been program staff.
We need more boards and executive staff to engage in this discussion. That is where people like Darren Walker are having an impact. I think it is incumbent on us who really care about this to force the conversation at that level. That's the next thing we're going to do here in California, starting with a series of briefings for foundation executives.
There's also a training issue. We've seen program offers almost universally accept the need for full-cost funding, but they have no idea how to have the conversation with their grantees. We need a different kind of training for program officers and nonprofits. Because many times even if the program officer is asking, nonprofits can't answer questions about their full costs. It's an issue for both sides, but if we invest in it together, hopefully it will lead to better outcomes.We also need to engage more deeply with government. Philanthropy can lead on this issue, but the real money is on the government side.
ABL: What arguments do you find most persuasive with government when talking about full costs? Here in New York, we had the bankruptcy of one of our largest social service agencies last year, and to a certain degree that helped people recognize that underfunding the human services sector creates instability. So one argument is that paying full costs is necessary to ensure a stable safety net. But there is another argument around equity and fairness. Why is it that hospital systems get billions of dollars to subsidize their transition to a new accountable care orientation and the same kind of money isn't being made available to human services organizations facing similar disruption? Are there other arguments you find particularly effective?
FA: What has been most effective in our experience has been bringing nonprofits face-to-face with their counterparts in government and have them explain what happens to them on a day-to-day basis because of inconsistent, indirect cost recovery. It morphs into a discussion about the multiple reports that are required and about what happens when payments are delayed. I think it's a mistake, however, to assume that people in government don't care about this. We've found there are a lot of people in government who do care about this but haven't had a forum to discuss it.
ABL: We've also found that many in government don't understand that they're not paying full costs. When we shared some of our survey data with people in the federal government responsible for working with nonprofits, they were surprised to learn that 70 percent of respondents said their federal grants rarely or never cover full costs. So again, when people understand the issue, the question becomes how to implement the solution. People say they "get it" but don't know how to make it work.
FA: Along with a number of funders in California, we've been involved in an initiative to encourage foundations and as well as governments to pay full costs. This includes helping them understand the new "Uniform Guidance" issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget which states that a nonprofit's indirect costs are legitimate expenses that need to be reimbursed.
In California, we've put a lot of energy into working with the City and County of Los Angeles. The county just passed a unanimous resolution directing its CFO's office to develop a plan for the implementation of the OMB guideline. That's big. And it wouldn't have happened if philanthropy didn't lead on the issue. If governments paid full costs, especially in the areas of health and human services, our foundation dollars could be spent much more effectively.
Antony Bugg-Levine is CEO of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, a national community development financial institution with more than $300 million in assets that helps nonprofit organizations connect money to mission and supports philanthropic innovations such as growth-capital campaigns, cross-sector economic recovery initiatives, and impact investing. His conversation with Fred Ali is reposted here with the permission of Bugg-Levine and NFF.


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New Car/Review
Buick Park Avenue Ultra(2000)
SEE ALSO: Buick Buyer's Guide
By Matt/Bob Hagin
Buick Full Line Video footage (10:07)SPECIFICATIONS Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price $ 39,800 Price As Tested $ 40,020 Engine Type OHV 12-valve 3.8 Liter V6 w/PFI* Engine Size 231 cid/3791 cc Horsepower 240 @ 5200 RPM Torque (lb-ft) 280 @ 3600 RPM Wheelbase/Width/Length 113.8"/74.7"/206.8" Transmission Four-speed automatic Curb Weight 3905 pounds Fuel Capacity 18.5 gallons Tires (F/R) P225/60R16 touring blackwall tires Brakes (F/R) Disc (ABS)/disc (ABS) Drive Train Front-engine/front-wheel-drive Vehicle Type Five-passenger/four-door Domestic Content 90 percent Coefficient of Drag (Cd.) N/A PERFORMANCE EPA Economy, miles per gallon city/highway/average 18/27/23 0-60 MPH 7.7 seconds 1/4 (E.T.) 15.8 seconds @ 90 mph Top speed 105 mph * Port fuel injectionLast year, Bob and Matt Hagin evaluated the Buick Park Avenue sedan and agreed that it could use more power. The 2000 Park Avenue they tried this week is the Ultra version with more horses and other goodies.)
MATT - The '99 Park Avenue that we had was a very nice car, but its performance was weak, especially if the driver was into "spirited" motoring. I'm glad we had the milder model before we got this Ultra version. They're both powered by the ubiquitous 3.8 liter V6 engine that's been a staple in the General Motors vehicles powerplant arsenal for a long time, but the extra 100 pounds of supercharger hardware makes a big difference. Although the top speed hasn't increased, the Ultra has considerably more get-up-and-go from a traffic light, and in highway driving, its 30 to 70 MPH times are noticeably shorter. It has 240 horsepower and the pulling power has been increased too. It puts out 280 pound/feet of torque, which is an increase of about 20 percent over the same unit without the blower. Both the block and cylinder heads are cast iron and it lacks the sophisticated valve train of some of the other cars in the G.M. stable, but the missing technology isn't obvious from the driver's seat.
BOB - The Ultra has several other items as standard equipment that puts it a few notches above the unsupercharged version. The front seats are heated and it has a neat traction control system that the company calls "StabiliTrak." This device intervenes if the driver is getting into trouble when making a turn at an inappropriate speed or if the car is losing traction on slippery roads. It will apply braking power to one of the front brakes individually in order to bring the car back under control. If the car is beginning to wash out and understeer, it applies pressure to the inside front brake to straighten it out, and if the rear end starts to come around, it applies pressure to the outside front brake to bring it back into shape. I wish we'd been able to try this system on a controlled skid-pad to get the effect first-hand. The way it's described, it's a really great safety feature.
MATT - Last year, we described the standard Park Avenue as being a typical company car for conservative mid-management types who are in the market for a car with lots of creature-comforts at a relatively low price. But with the addition of the supercharger on the Ultra, the Park Avenue will appeal the corporate types who still need the conservative image, but want to whip through mountain roads when the spirit moves them. There's enough space in the trunk for luggage for a family of four and if the family has some ski buffs, it has a rear seat pass-though that can accommodate a couple of sets of long skis.
BOB - Like the engine, the suspension system on both of the Park Avenues is pretty conventional with MacPherson struts up front and trailing links in back, but tuned a little tighter in the Ultra than the standard model. The rear also has a load-leveling system to keep the car on an even keel if it's carrying a heavy load. I appreciated the fact that the door locks are automatically unlocked within 15 second of an air-bag deployment. If the bags go off in a collision, the OnStar cellular phone option automatically calls 911 at the same time. The OnStar system operates from a global positioning system that uses satellites to pinpoint the exact location of the car. It's also handy if the car is stolen because it tracks its location the same way. OnStar also provides a map for getting around in unfamiliar territory.
MATT - The interior features seating that is typically Buick-plush but not mushy, and the driver's seat can be adjusted in almost every position. The driver gets a clear view of the necessary instruments through the upper half of the steering wheel, but it takes some time to get comfortable with the global positioning device. You almost need a navigator in the passenger's seat to keep track of things but if it's used correctly, it makes it almost impossible to get lost.
BOB - As I get older, Matt, I find that a gadget that keeps me from having to stop to ask directions is lots more useful than extra horsepower and special hot-rod tires.


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Its Wednesday so it is TOMIC time again!! And this week it is Tilda's birthday!!!
Happy Birthday Tilda! To celebrate we have a fantastic sketch to follow and
have been given these guidelines...
"Tilda Stamp + girly Birthday theme following Tina's Sketch
The "Birthday" text is mandatory and can be hand or computer written, stamped, chipboards, dies etc... and in each of your own language. We want to see girly themed cards so use pinks, lace, tulle, glitters and whatever is girly"
I decided to ink up Happy Tilda for her birthday celebration.
The papers are new MME Miss Caroline - I just looove them!!
The flowers are all Wild Orchid Crafts. As is the bakers twine, metal corner and rhinestones
I used Tilda's lace doo hickey die on the bottom edge of the card for a pretty lacey effect and a cute butterfly charm on the twine
I hope you get a chance to play along with us at TOMIC this week!